Goals to Start the New Year: 2016 Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

Goals are interesting things with a mutable nature. When I first set out goals for myself each year, it was easy. Whether I made them or not, I had something to strive for and I could always tweak them as needed.

All that changed when I gained readers.

Trust me, I’m not complaining one bit. I love having readers. Knowing someone is waiting for the next in each series is better motivation than a random, mutable goal.

However, it also means my goals have more weight, and I have to think about them a lot more. I can’t just toss some ideas into the air and run with it. My goals have to line up with the expectations of my readers and my long-term plans as an indie author.

Which is a roundabout way of explaining why my first Merry Go Round post for the year is a few days late, but at the same time, it’s important to establish the scene, so to speak. (If you’re reading this later, I set the date to the 5th for filing purposes, but it’s the 10th today.)

I am currently supporting three separate series: The Steamship Chronicles, Seeds Among the Stars, and Uncommon Lords and Ladies. My goals for this year must then include a new release in each of them, but it’s not that simple.

To release a book requires a lot more than a single line. Not all of these steps are ones I will do myself, but I need to coordinate everything once I’ve finished writing and doing my editing passes (multiple because I look at the work in several ways).

I’m also updating a bunch of my books to bring them forward to my latest formatting techniques and to improve the cover art in some cases.

I plan to write at least two novels, and more likely three plus some shorter works (one and a half of this year’s releases are already in rough draft).

I plan to edit at least four novels, most of them multiple times.

I will be creating cover art for at least three novels (one of them is part of the cover redo mentioned above). I have also contracted out three new covers for Seeds Among the Stars, two for the already published novels and one brand new. This requires me to update the older novels, and I do my own formatting because, being a techie, I know I can do it well and it allows me to update when necessary.

I will be formatting at least eight novels (including the updates).

Finally, I will be publishing at least three new novels.

You might have guessed at this point that I have my work cut out for me. The good news is I have some wonderful help and a real incentive in knowing people are waiting on the stories I have to tell. It won’t be easy, but I have been writing for a long while and I have processes in place to get things done. I’ve already had to deal with equipment failure, but I have replaced my Kindle, which I use for one of my editing steps, after it died in December, so I’m hoping this year will be problem free. When it isn’t (because something always comes up), I’ll work around it. My goals are no longer random, and though they do sometimes have to be mutable, I have enough riding on them not to give in to circumstances all that easily.

So, what about you? What’s on your radar for 2016? And what are some of the challenges you face?

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “2016 goals” — January’s topic in Forward Motion’s Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. Read the thoughts of nearly twenty different authors at various stages in their careers on this same topic. The “next” post in the series is by Bonnie R. Schultzman who posted on time.

Check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour to learn more. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour on the group site. Read and enjoy!